


Winter

by naeblis



Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Awkwardness, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, M/M, Romance, Slash, Winter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-30
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-09-13 12:59:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9124828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/naeblis/pseuds/naeblis
Summary: Erestor just wants the Seneschal of Imladris to stay far away from him. Glorfindel is finding it difficult. Why does Erestor dislike him so much?





	1. Hostility

Erestor let slip a muted curse as he wrung the water out of his soaked cloak. For the third day in a row, the heavens above Imladris had unloaded their heavy burden of cold, thick snow that melted as soon as one walked inside. Erestor, fussy at the best of times, found the situation intolerable. Snow was untidy, stuck to things, and added even more problems to his workload.

  
Like food deliveries, for example. As Erestor entered his office and threw his cloak down in front of the fire, he caught sight of a pile of rolled and bound scrolls sitting atop his desk. No doubt messages deploring the conditions in the valley and begging forgiveness for late arrivals. Just a few days before the Yuletide Eve feast, too. The timing couldn’t have been worse if Morgoth himself had been in charge of scheduling meteorological phenomena.

  
He sank into his seat with a sigh. The messages could wait - nothing could be done in any case. Instead, he pulled on the rope that would summon a servant to his office. It was only a few seconds before a young elleth appeared in the doorway.

  
”Some warm mulled wine, please. Not Lindir’s new concoction either, I have work to get done today. Just the regular stuff.”

  
Left alone in silence, his gaze fell again on the pile of letters on his desk. He picked one up absent-mindedly. Perhaps it was just as well to get through them and send off some quick replies. At the least, it would make his desk less cluttered.

  
He was writing a message to a local vintner when the door opened again.

  
”You can put it on the side table, by the window,” he said without looking up.

  
”Good morning to you too,” said a warm voice, and Erestor’s head snapped up. Glorfindel - holding a tray with two steaming mugs - was looking down at him, head tipped to one side, with a smile on his face.

  
Erestor jumped, an action that few elves had ever seen from him. Those sparkling blue eyes, that brilliant smile… these were things Erestor needed advanced warning to prepare himself for. Being the recipient of that look never failed to make him feel inexplicably warm. Glorfindel was just about the only person left in all Imladris that still had the ability to make Erestor feel discomfited. And what Erestor disliked more than anything was the awareness of not being in control of an interaction. The only method he had thus far of dealing with it was to avoid the source of the problem.

  
He smoothed over his expression and turned back to his work, as though Glorfindel’s presence was not worth his notice.              
"What an interesting turn of events. Imladris’ famed Seneschal has hung up his sword and become a scullery boy,” he said in a voice dripping with sarcasm, as he closed and applied his seal to a scroll.

  
Glorfindel grinned and placed a mug in front of the irritated steward before throwing himself into a nearby armchair.

  
"I bumped into the maid and asked her who it was that had the brilliant idea of drinking mulled wine at this time of day."

  
"And this somehow gave you leave to enter my office without permission?"

  
"Lindir doesn't ask before entering," he said. He kicked off his boots and put up his feet on the coffee table, dislodging several books in the process.

  
"Indeed. That's why I keep a pointy stick under my desk. It saddens me to see that his manners are rubbing off on you."

  
Erestor glared pointedly at Glorfindel's feet, but the offending elf appeared not to notice. So it always was with Glorfindel.  He had an air of easiness and unabashed humour about him that Erestor found difficult to deal with. Rarely did he succeed in getting the blasted elf to act with the decorum befitting a Commander of the Guard.

  
He sighed and set his scrolls to one side. Picking up his mug of wine, he sipped at it and kept a level gaze on the morning’s interloper.

  
"What do I need to do to get you out of my office?"

  
Glorfindel's eyes glimmered for a fraction of a second, but when he leaned forward to speak his tone was mild.

  
"I merely wanted to know how the weather situation is going to affect supply deliveries. I want to work out how many patrols we will be able to send out if supplies are limited.”

  
“Ah. I see,” said Erestor, relaxing slightly. He sat back in his seat and thought for a moment. “There will be some delays, but I don’t see why they should affect the guard. In the worst case, there’s always lembas. I don’t think Yavanna would mind us using it in order to defend the valley.”

  
Glorfindel nodded, but didn’t make any move to get up.

  
“Yes, I thought as much.”

  
Erestor stared at him with growing frustration. He didn’t seem to be intending to leave any time soon. He had his information, what more could he want?

  
“If it is as you thought, why did you come all the way down to my office? Surely a messenger would have sufficed.”

  
Glorfindel’s gaze fell on Erestor again, making the dark-haired elf squirm slightly in his seat. Which was ridiculous. Erestor was feared by all of Imladris, for his sharp tongue as much as his power to dole out stable duty on a whim. There was no reason this simple-minded Vanya should be able to make Erestor feel out of sorts in his own domain. Especially when Erestor had the moral high ground, really. He was just about to tell the Seneschal that it was time to leave, when Glorfindel’s voice brought him out of his thoughts.

  
“Forgive me,” said Glorindel, rising from his seat, his earlier warmth gone. “I merely thought - on a cold morning like this - it would be pleasant to spend a few moments with a warm drink in the company of a colleague I respect. But now I’m here, I find the reception chillier than outside.”

  
He slipped on his boots and left in one smooth movement, too quickly for Erestor to respond. The hot feeling of shame swept over him. Damn that elf! Erestor had been unreasonably rude and he knew it. Even if he _was_  known for having a short temper, he was also known for being fair and not speaking an unkind word where it was not deserved. Except in Glorfindel’s case. Erestor had many reasons for disliking the elf, but none that justified being impolite. At least, none that he cared to reveal to others. If he continued this way he’d eventually have to explain himself, to Elrond if not Glorfindel. Which was the last thing Erestor wanted to do.

  
Erestor sat paralysed in his seat for a few moments, debating if to follow the Seneschal and apologise or not. He ended up leaving it, a decision that also made him feel some shame (Erestor was also not known for being craven), but he told himself he’d deal with it later.  

  
Instead, he attacked the pile of work in front of him with a vengeance, and spent the morning being mercilessly difficult to the assistants who dared to make a mistake in his presence. He studiously did not spend any time thinking about Imladris’ golden captain.


	2. Spite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things will get worse before they get better. They've got to be enemies first, after all.

If Erestor’s assistants noticed his bad mood that day, they wisely did not mention it. The extra work caused by the unfortunate climate gave Erestor a convenient excuse to keep them working all through lunch, which neatly allowed him to put off thinking about other things for a little while yet.

 

Hours after the sun set and his assistants had left for the day, he ran out of things to do. The sound of the dinner gong served as a reminder for the task that lay ahead of him. The option of taking his meal in his rooms did cross his mind, but he dismissed the idea. Not only would it prolong his discomfort, but Glorfindel would recognise it for the cowardice it was.

 

So Erestor found himself sidling into the dining room in a sheepish manner a little later than everyone else. To his dismay, the high table was almost full, and Glorfindel was in conversation with one of Elrond’s sons. He couldn’t risk making his apology where it might be overheard, especially because Elrond might find out about it. The Lord of Imladris had already taken him to task over his cold treatment of their new Seneschal, and Erestor definitely didn’t want to give him new material to complain about.

 

He took a place some ways down the table from Glorfindel, far enough away that they couldn’t converse, but close enough that he could hear his conversation. The captain was, as usual, prattling away about some new way to organise the armoury. Glorfindel was known for his constant stream of bright ideas for effectivising the Imladris military. To give him credit, they *were* often good ones, although a few had failed in a memorable manner. For Erestor, though, it made him even more irritating. Glorfindel’s utter lack of flaws and his easy ability to succeed at just about anything was the source of most of Erestor’s antipathy. He couldn’t go anywhere without overhearing gushing comments about whatever their revered Seneschal had done recently. How was he to ever get away from him if people wouldn’t stop talking about him?

 

The meal passed with interminable slowness. Erestor found his gaze straying to his antagonist more than he’d care to admit, but Glorfindel was resolutely not looking in his direction. He *was* truly offended, then. There was a brief moment of panic when Glorfindel and Elrohir rose at the same time, but they thankfully departed via different exits. Hastily making his excuses, he ran after him whilst he had a chance.

 

He caught up to the captain in an empty corridor. Glorfindel turned around with a look of surprise when Erestor called out his name, but his expression quickly became impassive.

 

“Yes, Counsellor?” he said, in a formal tone.

 

Erestor felt his resolve slipping away as he took in Glorfindel’s scrutiny. Honestly, it was ridiculous how this elf could make him feel uncertain of himself with just a look. His heart was telling him to just say "never mind, it was nothing," and leave, but he couldn’t let Glorfindel win this round too.

 

“I just wanted to say - that is, I wished to apologise for my behaviour this morning. It was remiss of me to treat you so inhospitably.”

 

Glorfindel just kept looking at him, unmoved. Erestor felt as though he had been backed into a corner, and it was all his own doing.

 

“Well,” he continued, his voice perhaps wavering just a little, “I was simply stressed about work, you know how the weather has affected things-”

 

“That’s not it,” interrupted Glorfindel flatly.

 

“And I - what?”

 

“I said, that’s not it. The weather is not why you behaved as you did.”

 

Erestor felt himself floundering.

 

“Of course it was, how would you-”

 

“Please, you’ve already insulted me enough today, don’t make it worse by lying to me.”

 

This was not going in any way as Erestor had planned. Like in so many other conversations with Glorfindel, he felt as though the floor was slipping out from under his feet. And like in all those other conversations, he reacted in the only way he knew how.

 

He drew himself up, eyebrows narrowed, and looked at the captain with derision clear on his face.

 

“Why am I not surprised that you lack the grace to accept an apology when it is offered to you?”

 

Glorfindel snorted and rolled his eyes.

 

“It’s not an apology if it's dishonest. We both know it's not about the weather."

He paused, seemingly weighing up something. Then he took a deep breath and continued, "For whatever reason, you are incapable of any kind of warmth or affection towards anybody, and if anyone tries to get past your wall of ice, you waste no time in bringing them down- “ Erestor almost choked on his indignation and surprise, but Glorfindel raised a hand.

 

“No, let me finish. When I arrived here, everybody warned me about you, told me not to bother trying to become friends with you, but I couldn’t believe that a person could be as joyless and frigid as they made you sound. I suppose I should have listened to them. As it is, you’ve made it perfectly clear that you have no interest in the company of your fellow elves, so I will cease forcing it upon you.”

 

He turned to leave, but Erestor could not just let him walk away unscathed after that tirade. He sidestepped the commander and placed himself in front of him, close enough that he could feel Glorfindel’s breath on his face. The commander was a good head or two taller than him, so he had to tilt his head to look up into those azure eyes and make sure Glorfindel saw the fury reflected in his own. When he spoke, his voice was low, deliberate, and dangerous.

 

“I don’t know why you decided to embarrass yourself like that - or actually, I do, it probably has something to do with the empty space between your ears and your inflated sense of importance. I will only waste my breath far enough to tell you that you know nothing about me or my relations with others. I know it’s difficult for you to find one person in all of Imladris that doesn’t swoon as soon as you smile at them, but you are not entitled to my friendship or time just because you decided to have it.”

 

He stepped back, maintaining eye contact with Glorfindel, who now looked as infuriated as Erestor felt. They stood there in silence for a moment, staring at each other, until Glorfindel shook his head and stalked off, leaving Erestor standing alone in the dimly lit corridor.

 

That went just about as poorly as could be imagined.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know these chapters are short, but it's my way of trying to get out of writer's block. Write something quickly, put it out there, see what happens. Thanks for the comments on the first chapter. Hopefully this will be my first finished fic! <3


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